Well, it’s that time of the year when everyone is going on holiday or has just been away somewhere. FaceBook (and all of the others) are full of pictures of holiday experiences and people enjoying time away from their normal routine of life.
We are off to Turkey on Sunday, so no MM for 2 weeks, and I must say, I’m slightly excited about going away. Normally I’m a bit blasé and don’t get excited at all, but this time, I am. It might be because of the previous cancellations due to CV-19 and now I appreciate the fact we can go somewhere else now. It also might be because we are all going and it’ll be nice to spend some family time chatting and reconnecting, without work / college distractions.
We are already looking at potential activities to book on and I think some white water rafting is high on the list. We will do a couple of boat trips, have a massage and, of course, spend time relaxing time by the pool. It’s time to get a decent book to read and maybe a couple of downloads on the iPad so that we can really switch off while we are enjoying our break.
The sad thing about going away, is that the foster kids have to go into respite. Because of their ages they can’t stay in the house alone and we couldn’t take them on holiday because of passport issues and consent problems. One lad is ok with it and knows the people he will be staying with, but the other lad is a bit nervous as he has only stayed with us since being in the UK and is fairly shy anyway. I have tried to reassure him but you can just see it in his eyes that he is not going to enjoy this, initially.
Having said that, he might enjoy staying with the other family, so much, that he won’t want to come back! It will be good for him to experience being somewhere else and to get out of his comfort zone and, I hope, this will help him grow as an adult. It’s important to stretch yourself mentally, physically and emotionally in the world today. We need to embrace change and disruption as a way of life and adapt to suit. It might feel uncomfortable but it’s rarely fatal!
I remember being asked to do a key note speaking event for a group of around 800 people. Initially I thought ” 800 people, that’s loads!” and I was fairly nervous, as they were all from an academic background. Teachers, professors and educated people, whereas I left school with no qualifications to brag about. The topic was around building resilience, as this group of people were feeling overwhelmed and under pressure, and wanted to understand how they could deal with things a bit better.
Needless to say that, once you get over the initial emotional response and think logically about things, you just need to prepare well and JFDI…which I did, and it went well. It helped build my confidence, although, it wasn’t perfect and if I delivered that session again I would make some changes, but it grew me as a presenter.
What have you or, are you, avoiding because that fear of failure or fear of looking stupid? How could you manage your emotions, rationalise things and plan a way forward to step out of your comfort zone, manage your fears, and grow?
I know, for sure, Sandra (My wife) will not be looking forward to white water rafting, it’s not her thing! I will let you know, when we get back, if she got out of her comfort zone and joined the rest of us.
Have a great Summer – catch up again soon.